


Warpaint

by Sillyleaf



Series: Sara Tinker Ryder [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 08:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10827570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sillyleaf/pseuds/Sillyleaf
Summary: When you are not enough as you are, you have three options. The third is not an option for Sara or the Initiative so she has two options: Find more or become more.Sara Tinker Ryder didn't want to be Pathfinder. She refuses to be a carbon copy of her father but she also refuses to be less than enough. Somehow, someway she will  become what is needed and she will do it without losing who she is.Sometimes the first step is preparing your game face.





	Warpaint

Time is a strange entity. Perception and existence can deviate in a way that’s hard to grasp. She had slept for 600 years and upon waking it had felt like she’d only just drifted off. 600 years, and a new galaxy - nothing - like the Initiative expected. She’d woken from the second longest slumber she’d ever take into what still felt like a nightmare. 

Sara Tinker Ryder, Pathfinder. If 600 years felt like a brief moment then why did a few hours feel like too much? More pain, confusion, fear and grief than anyone should experience in a lifetime, all condensed into less than a day. 

Alec Ryder, former Pathfinder, her father, dead. No time to mourn. Thrust by consequence and Alec’s unknown motives into a role she didn’t want. No time to train. Her brother in a coma, still continuing to sleep. Now with 2 hours rest she had to become something… someone… to everyone. Not to mention the anger and hurt of Cora, the one who was supposed to be the next in line, and the worry of the Asari Doctor Lexi, the confusion of Liam and the injuries to the rest of the human pathfinder crew. She was already short at least 4 people. 

“Shit’s so bad I doubt anything will grow from it. “

Tinker stared at her reflection, no one aged while in Cryo but she thought she looked older. The long healed scar lines across her left eye looked more jagged due to the dark hollows of fatigue. She couldn’t bring herself to smile as wide. “When you are not enough…” She tilted forward bracing herself against the counter, elbows locked , hands clutching the sides of the sink tightly forcing her arms to tremble under the strain. A deep sigh - a mere inch from the mirror - caused the surface to fog. Tinker pressed her forehead into the mirror “ either find more, or become more”

“An apt expression Pathfinder, your father Alec shared a similar sentiment.” Sam said, his voice not nearly as mechanical as she had expected it to be, but still devoid of true warmth. 

Pulling back and rubbing the stiff ache from her wrists Tinker smirked “Right,- Pathfinder-, it’s just a part to play... I just need to right motivation “ She began marching out of the restroom “Is my personal storage crate accessible yet Sam?”

“It has been pulled from storage, but not yet assigned an area for pick up. I can tell you its location if you wished to retrieve it.”

“Only need one thing from it for now, but yes tell me where it is and I’ll grab what I need” She started towards the storage area .

“What are you retrieving Pathfinder that takes precedence over boarding the Nexus?”

“Warpaint Sam. “

“Do you expect hostilities?”

Sara nearly laughed out loud, “Always.” 

 

\---

She can’t help it, it feels so good to catch the shock and perturbed expressions that flash across Tann’s and Addison’s faces. A good choice then. Unprofessional. Not military.

The face of their Pathfinder is not what they expect. They expected an aged N7. A man that wore his years well and had a hardened appearance. Experienced. Professional. Someone everyone could depend on and who at least looked like he knew what was going on. 

But she isn’t Alec. If she were honest she was probably Alec’s antithesis at least in appearance. That suited her fine. Show them right from the beginning that she is not her father. She is Sara Ryder, Tinker to her friends. 

She is fair skinned, pock marked here and there from harsh weather in ancient ruins. Her hair cropped short with light blue bangs swept to the left, a few wild wisps refusing to lay flat. Block shaped medium pink fragmentation tattoos curl up her neck and along the lower right of her jaw. The same pink tone surrounds and creates a mask across her eyes and the upper bridge of her thin nose, the edges fading to blend with her skin rather than creating a harsh stop and start line. Deep teal eyeliner thickly lines her eyes and wings outwards. Her lips are chapped on the edges, a translucent white-blue gloss thickly coats her lips. 

Kesh and Kandros are less politicians and more genuine. She leans back against one of the crates in the militia office. They’re also less stuck in a professional mindset because Kandros has been staring at her for about 30 seconds.

“Something you wanna ask? Ask it. If I don’t want to answer I won’t” Sara says, turning her eyes towards Kandros, and watching his mandible tighten then relax. 

“You are definitely not how I pictured a pathfinder...” There’s a question in his voice. Even if she can't hear Turian sub-harmonics fully she could still understand the uptick in his vocals at the end of the statement. 

“I didn’t have much of a choice, you’ve heard what happened. “

“I guess, just never pictured the most important person to the Nexus’ survival being so ...colorful.”

He’s amused and so is Sara. “It pisses off Tann and Addison but there’s no military regulations they can throw at me so all they can do is subtly show their disapproval and hope I give a damn. “

“Which you don’t.” 

“Not a ding-dang bit!” They both grin, it’s too open to laugh. Too many eyes and ears, too much to be done to be reckless with mirth. They are figureheads and they are exposed to everyone nearby. 

“Now if you or Kesh had an issue…”

“We’d call you out on it. “

“Exactly, not politicians. I might actually listen!” Probably not. Kandros knows she wouldn't. He wouldn't ask anyways. He has bigger issues to deal with than what the Pathfinder chooses to put on her face. She waves a hand, and heads towards the lift. Time to see this ship she’s been promised. 

This is Sara Tinker Ryder’s first day in Andromeda. First day as Pathfinder. It’s the worst day of her life...so things can only get better. Right?

**Author's Note:**

> First of hopefully several interconnected but stand alone pieces about Sara Tinker Ryder. It feels good to get back into writing. I like to think that for Tinker she uses makeup not to hide who she is but to bring out (hi-light) aspects of herself that are already present. 
> 
> Tinker as a name is inspired by Patrick Rothfuss books, mainly the quote about how to treat a tinker.


End file.
